Living Like Ed

A Little Book Review

Hi!  This is Tim.

This is actually my first entry here in our blog, so I hope you like it.

Lisa recently came home with some books from the library, and one of the books she borrowed was "Living Like Ed".  The author is Ed Begley, Jr.  He is an actor probably best known for his role in St. Elswhere in the '80's.  The book was rather good.  Basically, the book is about what Ed has learned about green living since he started being very conscious of the way he lived in the early '70's and how it effected the environment.  He hits upon the major areas where green living are important: home, transportation, recycling, energy, garden and kitchen, and clothing and skin care.  Much of the information is fairly common sense, but the book is well put together and an informative read.

One part I really liked was the simple metaphor of a tree.  Much of the information in the book is like picking the low-hanging fruit on the tree, like cleaning your furnace filter and conserving water.  Some of the information is like picking the fruit on the mid level of the tree.  You need a ladder, but not a very tall one.  Some of these are using a bicycle for transportation or buying things made from recycled materials.  Finally, there is the fruit on the top of the tree: installing solar/wind or buying a hybrid or electric car.

Another part I really enjoyed was blurbs every so often from Ed's wife Rachelle.  She is not quite as green as Ed but is learning to be.  She really puts the average person's opinion into effect.  Many of the things Ed suggests she is not very fond of, but she understands why many of these things are important.

The last part of the book is a workbook where you can write in all of the things you have changed and keep some dates and expenses to see the cost benefits of some of the green living changes as well as how much some of the more expensive changes cost.

I really liked the book and would definitely recommend it to anyone.  I know it's available on amazon.com and I imagine at Barnes and Noble as well, or you can borrow it from the library and be even more green.